Chest strap for holding an electrode



Aug. 10, 1954 M. L. KELLY CHEST STRAP FOR HOLDING AN ELECTRODE FiledFeb. 14, 1952 Marcus L. Kelly INVENTOR.

Patented Aug. 10,1954

one-s1 rormrommtrnn ":IEEECTRODE' .Marcus L i. Kelly, SthPaul, Minn. ;Hel'enM. Y Kelly,

administratrfxt df'said Marcus Kelly, deceased?assignorto'herself Aplieanomrebmamm, 1952;.Serial-Nos2171s588:

iiolaiiii; (01. 128 -418? .Thiainventionrelates generally tocheststraps;and more-specifieally itochest straps (whichare specifically designed.for; engaging: the-chest of a; patient having.anelectroseardiogramwherebyeleotrode'; may I firmly, held position. .on the-- chest, ofthe.-.patient.-. 1

When a; person .is. havinga an electroscardio. gram -made it isnecessary ,thata metal diskeor chest-1, electrode. be. held against:portions 1 of. his chestfona-period ofrtime whilerdifferent-readingsare: being; made. Sincethisisa .testiof the-patients heartevibrations it;is.-necessary that: the metalldisk-r or chest:.electrode= beheldafirmly against the chest of the patient withouti any movement withrespect to the chest. The normal prcceduregisitoz'have thepatient:holdthe-metal disk or chestelectrode in vthesvarious. positions,seven in all, while the readingsare being taken. However, it is wellknown tliat a person carnhold un -object fiimly-for-only-a short timebefore-the hands begins to shakee Furtliermore,-=not only is the metaldisk-or- -chestzelectrode apt to move with respect to the chest due tofatigue of the patients hand, but the; average, personf is;generallynervouswhen testsmade on" them by doctorsso that it isdifficult for them to hold the metal disk or chest electrode steady foreven a short period of time. It is therefore desirable to have somemeans for holding the metal disk or electrode firmly against the chestand in a manner which it may be easily shifted from one position to theother.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved hold downdevice for firmly holding a chest electrode against the chest of apatient having an electro-cardiogram made.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved hold downdevice for holding a chest electrode against portions of a patientschest, said hold down device being flexible so as to conform generallyto the configurations of the patients chest.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved hold downdevice for holding a chest electrode against portions of a patientschest, said device maintained in place due to its weight and thefriction between its lower surface and the chest of the patient.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved hold downdevice for chest electrodes which is of an extremely simple constructionand economically manufactured.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hold down device forchest electrodes to which the chest electrode may be quickly and easilysecured and removed from.

.2 a still further object of" thislinventidnl is'i' to provide animproved hold-down device for'. chest electrodes: whichwill firmly. holdthe. electroded ri place but may be. easily shifted as.desiredlari'dfjis' comfortable, andls'tead m- Withtliese objectsdefinitely i n 'view, thiSJih-E' and position ot. a keyhole slot' for:receiv-in'g-, :i-

chest electrode :and securing the sameto-the hold down device; 1

Figure-g2 is aside. elevationah view of the. hold down device of Figure1 and'shows theiuppen-and lcvverysur-faoeathereof asbeingfia-t and plainv figurefizis a partial perspective view: oft-the end portioni-ot,thezholdudown devicethavinggtheekey: holenslotithereinzandnshowstheexact-figuration thereof; and,

Figure 4 is a partial perspective view of one end of the hold downdevice of Figure 1 and is similar to Figure 3, the chest electrode beingillustrated as secured within the'keyhole slot.

Similar characters of reference designate similar or identical elementsand portions throughout the specification and throughout the differentviews of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in particular, it will be seen that thehold down device is in the form of an elongated strap I0 having sides I2and ends 44. As is best illustrated in Figure 2, the strap I0 hasperfectly smooth upper and lower surfaces and is of a constantthickness.

In order that a chest electrode may be visibly secured with respect tothe strap H), the strap is provided with a keyhole slot l6 openingthrough one of its sides I2 adjacent one of the ends M. The keyhole slot[6 includes a substantially circular opening I8 which is communicated tothe exterior of the strap H) by a relatively narrow opening 20.

Referring now to Figure 4 particularly, it will be seen that the chestelectrode includes a flat metal disk 22 which has at right anglesthereto a circular stem portion 24. The stem portion 24 has a transversebore 26 thereto and in which is received one end of an electricalconductor 28. Carried by the stem portion 24 is a locking screw 30 whichextends into the bore 26 and opening 20 of the keyhole slot and the stemportion 24 is moved towards the substantially circular opening l8. Dueto the resiliency of the strap ID, the stem portion 24 may be jammedthrough the opening 29 and engages within the substantially circularopening [8 which is of substantially the same diameter as th stemportion 24.

It has been found that the strap l0, when made of a heavy rubber, isquite satisfactory and that the rubber has a surface'which has a highcoefficient friction and is not prone to sliding with respect to thechest of the patient. Furthermore, the flexible rubber permits the strapto conform to the general contours of the chest of the patient andtherefore provides a greater holding surface. It has been found that aheavy rubber stray about 16 inches long, one and one half inches wide,and about one-eighth of an inch thick has sufficient weight and chestengaging surface whereby the chest electrode will be firmly held on thechest of the patient having an electro-cardiogram made.

A primary advantage of forming the strap of rubber is that the rubberdoes not present a cold surface to be placed on the bare chest of thepatient and since the rubber assumes the general contour of the patientschest the weight thereof is distributed evenly over the entire undersideof the strap. I

It has been found that a rubber strap of the type illustrated in thedrawings and described above is very suitable and may be quickly andeasily moved from one position to another during 4 the course of makingthe electro-cardiogram and due to the resiliency thereof the chestelectrode may be easily and quickly engaged with or removed from thekeyhole slot 16 therein. Furthermore, the rubber strap may be easilyrolled up or folded up for storing same. 7

The operation of this device will be understood from the foregoingdescription of the details thereof, taken in connection with the aboverecited objects and drawings. Further description will appear to beunnecessary.

Minor modifications of the device, varying in minor details from theembodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resortedto without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, asdefined in the appended claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

As a new article of manufacture, a holddown for electro-cardiogramelectrodes of the type including an elongated handle and a metallic discon one end of said handle, said holddown comprising; a flexibleresilient rubber chest strap of substantial thickness adapted to rest onthe chest of the patient and conform to the contours thereof by reasonof its flexibility and weight for frictionally retaining said strapagainst relative movement, said strap having an open keyhole slot in oneend portion thereof for the reception of the electrode for removablymounting same on the strap, the restrictedportion of the keyhole slotbeing of a width less than thediameter of the handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber

